Specializations
PhD in Strategy
The PhD in Strategy provides students with the theoretical and methodological foundations to conduct research in the fields of strategic management and organization theory. Strategy is an interdisciplinary area that combines theories from sociology, economics, and psychology to study organizational behaviour. This literature examines how organizations develop strategy to build competitive advantage and achieve specific economic or social goals, how industries evolve, and how organizations relate to their institutional and social environments.
Students will have an opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge in the areas of competitive strategy, strategy-making process, corporate intelligence, industry transformation, institutional change, culture and organizations, strategic alliances, acquisitions, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial networks, nonmarket strategy, etc. Students will build on the various expertise of our faculty to develop their own research interests during the program.
The Strategy and Organization area is an active research group whose members publish in top-tier academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, among others. Our Faculty members sit on the editorial boards of leading journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Strategic Organization. Smith Strategy faculty has received prestigious research awards, as well as numerous competitive research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and other granting agencies.
Typically, successful candidates will have a research-based masters degree and a GMAT/GRE score around the 80th percentile or higher.
Is this Specialization for you?
Discover how this program aligns with your academic or research oriented career goals. Request a virtual one-on-one meeting with a member of our program team.
Program Structure and Content
Each student is required to complete the following courses as well as a research project of publishable quality, present at our annual Smith Grad Student Consortium, comprehensive exams, and present at a research seminar in year 3.
Course offerings change from year to year. This sample stream is not reflective of a guaranteed curriculum but is instead an example of what a curriculum could look like in a given year. Please note the minimum requirement to complete a degree is 27 credits. Many of our area groups will exceed the minimum courses to satisfy job market needs in academia.
With supervisor approval, students can select MGMT specialization courses from other area groups. Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion.
Course descriptions are available on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs website. Any non-MGMT courses are linked below.
Sample Strategy PhD Curriculum
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| MGMT 901 Research Foundations | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 993 Teaching and Learning in Management and Business | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 989 Major Research Project | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 994 Upper Year Research Presentation | Pass/Fail |
| MGMT 999 PhD Thesis | Pass/Fail |
| Specialization – MGMT | |
| MGMT 905 Contemporary Organization Theory & Nonmarket Strategy | 3 |
| MGMT 906 Strategy Process | 3 |
| MGMT 907 Entrepreneurship and Innovation | 3 |
| MGMT 908 Corporate Strategy Dynamics | 3 |
| Electives – Supervisor Approved MGMT or Other Department | |
| MGMT 950 Foundations of Research in Organizational Behaviour (or other elective) | 3 |
| MGMT 952 Advanced Topics in Organization Theory (or other elective) | 3 |
| Methods/Related Field | |
| MGMT 800 Statistics I | 3 |
| MGMT 900 Statistics II | 3 |
| MGMT 902 Qualitative Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| MGMT 903 Experimental Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| MGMT 904 Survey Research Method Design | 1.5 |
| Total Credits | 28.5 |
Electives can be any other MGMT course or a course from another department at the supervisor’s discretion. Typically, Strategy students take the above courses or other MGMT courses.